2018–2019 Annual Report Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area Photo credit: Johnathan Milne / LightHawk Annual Report, 2018-2019 Prepared by Laura Sewall, Director May 2019 2018–2019 Annual Report Dance Instructor Julie Fox with students from Creating Educational Experiences at Morse Mountain. Contents 2 Letter from the Director 5 Education and Research 8 Conservation and Wildlife 10 News, Events, and Noteworthy 11 The Gate Keeper’s Log 12 Director’s Professional Activity 13 Looking Forward 14 Appendices n Appendix A: Updated Visitor data n Appendix B: The Town of Phippsburg Report 1 PB 2018–2019 Annual Report Letter from the Director Photo credit: Peg Daly On a recent walk in the BMM woods, just upland from the mouth of the Morse River, I discovered a great growth of Usnea. I knew the lichen was there, but not that it had become so abundant. The trees were so fully covered that I could not tell if they were spruces or firs. I feared a terrible imbalance and the loss of trees but a little research revealed that Usnea grows in moist conditions, but more notably, it 2 PB 2018–2019 Annual Report grows abundantly when the air quality is especially With retirement in July, I have taken the good. Also notable is that it is antimicrobial, opportunity to reflect on 11 years of experience. antibacterial and antifungal and is known for a long While reviewing previous annual reports, I easily see list of medicinal uses. In part, Usnea is known to how the focus of this position has shifted over time. heal wounds and sore throats, relieve allergy It was initially a matter of addressing needs. In 2009, symptoms and respiratory issues, and fight a wide my concerns included getting a management plan range of infections. We hardly know the riches in place, dealing with purple loosestrife—a around us. formidable invasive plant—in the marsh, cleaning up a large pile of lobster traps left in the Seagontz This, I think, is true when it comes to salt marshes. parking area, and getting a new gatehouse built. Few of us know that the current value attributed to the suite of salt marsh ecosystem services—or By the spring of 2010, the purple loosestrife had natural benefits to humans—is estimated to be been treated and was dying back with a promising $194,000 per hectare per year. The Sprague Marsh is rebound of diverse native plants; the management 74 acres, or 30 hectares, translating into an plan was nearly completed; Jim Joseph had built a estimated value of $5.8 million per year. This is new gatehouse; and the Sarah H. Trafton Fund had worth contemplating in the midst of on-going salt been initiated to support faculty and student marsh loss. research at BMMCA. It felt like I was getting a house in order. A September 2018 paper published in Nature emphasizes the uncertain response of coastal Next came a focus on issues that threatened the wetlands to sea level rise. Global projections natural integrity of the ecological systems at Morse estimate a 20% to 90% net loss of salt marshes, Mountain. In 2010, the state’s Bureau of Parks and resulting in the loss of highly valued ecosystem Lands hoped to bulldoze the Morse River spit in services, including large amounts of carbon order to change the course of the river—which had sequestration and storage. Other lost benefits swung towards the upland and threatened to erode include storm surge protection, fisheries support, the new bathroom facilities and parking lot. A and water quality improvement. number of stakeholders became partners in environmental protection and, with the help of Geologist Bev Johnson has monitored the accretion Peter Vickery (an eloquent voice for wildlife) and of sediment on the Sprague Marsh since 2013 in Bates professor, Mike Retelle (a geologist familiar order to determine its longevity in the face of sea with the history of sediment transport along level rise. Early results suggest a future with open Seawall Beach), we successfully argued against water near the mouth of the Sprague River and a mechanical interference, thus preserving the natural more persistent salt marsh toward the upland, at the system—and a large-scale natural laboratory. farther reaches of high tides. Based on my observations of the Sprague marsh, this is not In 2011, the Army Corps of Engineers was surprising--but it is critical to confirm. It also points determined to dredge the lower Kennebec River to the educational value of BMMCA: It’s a during the early summer season, when endangered remarkably undisturbed sentinel site for observing and native fish migrate upriver and are most present rapid coastal change. in the estuary. A group of local environmental leaders lost the case, in Federal Circuit Court, but 3 PB 2018–2019 Annual Report gained insight and a valuable sense of camaraderie. I funds. Still, one hope for the future direction of was blessed to participate in defense of a regional- BMMCA, is that Bates maintains a role in the scale natural system, of which BMMCA is a major Northeastern Coastal Stations Alliance. There is part. clear promise in the collaboration. That growing sense of regionalism became more With my retirement, I have three fundamental hopes apparent as news of radical warming in the Gulf of for the future of the relationship between Bates Maine captured the attention of coastal scientists, College and Morse Mountain: 1) that management managers, and fishermen. By that time collaboration, limits people—in the sense that wildlife has every with the intent of tracking system-wide changes in opportunity to emerge, adapt and thrive without the Gulf, seemed like the best way to uplift the interference; 2) that the natural systems at BMMCA visibility of BMMCA as a natural lab. That simple serve to inform our collective understanding of a realization fostered the emergence of NeCSA, the rapidly changing Gulf of Maine; and 3) that many Northeastern Coastal Stations Alliance, in 2015. students find themselves learning and thriving here. A National Science Foundation grant and the If we—that is, those of us who care about the future conception of regional tracking easily appealed to a of BMMCA—continue with those fundamental dozen field stations and marine labs around the Gulf intentions, I am easily grateful all over again. During of Maine. Early meetings confirmed the importance my tenure as director, I’ve been consistently grateful of gaining a large-scale perspective on change and for my team: Jim Joseph and Don Bruce have been we set to work to coordinate monitoring, including fabulous teammates, with Frank Wezner coming water temperatures and biotic conditions in the along more recently. I am also thankful for the many intertidal zone. I counted BMMCA/Shortridge as forms of support from the St John family, The one of the small field stations. Nature Conservancy, the BMMCA Corporation board, the Town of Phippsburg, the Small Point Over the last three years, relationships and data Association—and of course, Bates College. I management plans have been made, shared sincerely thank all of you for our shared protocols hammered out, and data collected. commitment to Bates-Morse Mountain. NeCSA’s progress has been hampered, however, by the need for staff time to organize data and Laura meetings, to maintain visibility, and to apply for 4 PB 2018–2019 Annual Report Education and Research Education A chance encounter with ten 7th grade students and Additional visiting schools: North Yarmouth Academy, their instructor, in early April, revealed that Breakwater Chewonki Semester, Great Salt Bay Middle School, School, from Portland, visits BMMCA regularly. Hyde School, Maine Central School, Morse and According to the instructor, they visit at least once or Lewiston High Schools, Maine Coast Waldorf School, twice each year—or whenever it becomes apparent that Breakwater School, Oak Hills High School, Hebron a field trip would significantly add to the curriculum. Academy, Earth School, Kimberton Waldorf School, On this particular day, they were visiting Morse Friends of Portland School, Thornton Academy, and Mountain and Seawall Beach to learn about natural Woolwich Middle School. systems. Similarly, several of the schools reported below appeared at BMMCA in the off-season and are consequently recorded because of encounters in the parking lot or on the trail. Few schools notify the director in advance of a field trip and, as a result, the reported numbers greatly underestimate the full educational use of BMMCA. Shadows of Bates students from GEOs20: Lost Beaches of Maine. Photo credit: Alice Doughty Colleges: 4 Overall visits: 20 n Bates: 10 courses, student and alumni groups recorded Phippsburg Kindergarten students with Batesies. Photo credit: Bill Short-term course work: 3 courses; at least 7 visits Wallace n Bates College Courses: Primary, Middle and High Schools: 17 BIO s30: Ecology and Natural History of the Maine Coast Visits: 23 BIGE 113: Marine Science Students: 623 GEO s20: Lost Beaches of Maine Phippsburg Elementary School: 86 students visited in BIO s31: Avian Biology September. BIES 246: Conservation Biology BIO 128: Out of the Sea In May, Bates students from Creating Educational EDUC s20: Creating Educational Experiences at BMMCA Experiences at Bates-Morse Mountain led 3 field trips for Phippsburg Elementary School students, including n Shortridge retreats: 31, from September 9th to May 30th kindergartners. The trips were structured around a Number students, faculty and staff served: 545 variety of natural history and art activities. Shortridge 2018 summer residents: 11 (7 from Bates) 5 PB 2018–2019 Annual Report n Bowdoin: 10 visits n Colby: 1, 10 students for Orientation Bill Wallace, education instructor for Creating n Maine College of Art: 1 visit, 9 students Educational Experiences at Morse Mountain, and 16 students prepared field trips and lesson plans for n Bates Community Engaged Learning: Visiting students from Lewiston and Phippsburg Elementary assistant biology professor, Katie Dobkowski, and schools, returning to BMMCA every Tuesday during students from Marine Science created short videos to the college’s 5-week short-term.